With WiiU finally being torn down and evidently hacked, the CPU is clear now. It is an enhanced Wii CPU. The clock is about twice as fast PER CORE and it has THREE cores vs Wii's ONE core. Along with that comes 12-times the cache. As compared to what is likely in the other next gen systems... clearly it will be below them by a significant amount.

MSony are essentially going to provide the same CPU within their overall APU design. However, this will not mean they are identical as each company will have tweaked various other items related to memory, bandwidth, etc.

However in the end, it appears we'll see a MSony CPU that is basically the same while WiiU lags far behind. Considering we're approaching a point where the GPU will be doing nearly all the work, this may not be as big of an issue for WiiU as it suggests.

Nintendo has gone with a 100% custom chip design in order for them to create their MCM solution with a strong focus on efficiency and backwards compatibility. The end result is a design that is not like any standard AMD GPU, making it difficult to analyze. It does contain fast eDRAM (32MB + 2MB) and SRAM (1MB). Statements support the idea that it will utilize the same DX11 type features and technologies as its competitors, but it will be hampered by a far slower GPU and memory bandwidth.

MS appears to be going with a slightly smaller GPU (as compared with Sony) along with a slower memory pipeline and some sort of "Move Engine" that is believed to assist its data transfer speeds within the APU. It will go with general DD3 RAM and compliment that with 32MB of eSRAM. Being a Microsoft product, it will be utilizing 11.x varient of DirectX.

Sony is going with a more traditional PC-like approach in that its matching the GPU with actual GDDR5 RAM vs general purpose DDR3 RAM. It has 18 compute units (CU) in its southern islands based GPU. Like WiiU, this will be support DX11 type features and technologies. [PS4 GPU: 1.84 TFLOPS, Engine Clock 800Mhz, 18 Compute Units (1152 Stream Processors), 72 Texture Units , 8GB GDDR5 with 176.0GB/s memory bandwidth (shared with CPU) ]

This means that Sony has a clear advantage in RAM due to speed even when including the benefits of embedded ram on WiiU/XOne's GPUs. XOne will be closest with similar overall storage capabilities but slower transfer rates while Wii U will be both far smaller and slower than both of its competitors. These differences are attempted to be included in the comparisons above for CPU/GPU.

Controls:

WiiU

Xbone

PS4

Main Controller(s)

Gamepad

6.2" HD touch screen

Dynamic video based on position and game intent

Ability to create mobile sensor for Wiimotes

Mic and Speaker + headphone connection

Dual analog, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons

Rumble

Ability to play games/video without use of TV

Rechargeable built-in battery

WiFi (802.11n 5GHz band)

NFC

TV/Cable/Sat/DVR remote

Wireless Pro Controller

Dual analog, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons

Rumble

Rechargeable built-in battery

Bluetooth

Xbox One Controller

Dual analog, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons

Rumble

2*AA battery

Bluetooth

Connection port for headset/charging

Home button, Split/Snap screen button, Optons button

Kinect 2.0

Packed in with every system

HD Wide angle camera allowing up to 4 active players.

More precise visual capabilities

Better voice controls

Dual Shock 4

Dual analog, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons

Rumble

Rechargeable built-in battery

Bluetooth

Touchpad

Speaker

Headphone connection

"Move" embedded light

"Share" button

"Options" button (used in place of start/select)

PS Eye

3D View

Enhanced video and audio capabilities

Now interacts with Move and DualShock4 controllers.

Secondary

All Wii controls

Wiimote (plus and regular)

Nunchuk

Balance Board

Classic Controller (pro and regular)

Tablet/Phone/Internet

Interoperability with any smartphone or tablet for MiiVerse, eShop, etc types of interaction. (Not gameplay related)

SmartGlass

Interoperability with any tablet/smartphone for full dashboard, shop, communications, and probably limited gameplay.

Could provide many features similar to WiiU gamepad where sticks and buttons are not required.

Vita

Remote play via home network or internet.

Base OS feature, no special game developer work except mapping of Vita controls.

Move

Doesn't appear to have changed.

Tablet/Phone/Internet

Interoperability with any tablet/smartphone for full dashboard, PSN shop, communications, Playstation social networking.

Troll_Whisperer said:For those of us who know nothing of these things: IF these rumours are true, how much more powerful than Wii U will the next Xbox be?

Not really enough information to say either way, especially when you consider that all hardware listed will (likely) be heavily modified/customized to operate under the performance, heat and cost requirements of each of the manufacturers.

Troll_Whisperer said:For those of us who know nothing of these things: IF these rumours are true, how much more powerful than Wii U will the next Xbox be?

Not really enough information to say either way, especially when you consider that all hardware listed will (likely) be heavily modified/customized to operate under the performance, heat and cost requirements of each of the manufacturers.

Absolutely true. My initial comparisons are just based off standard specs and generalizations.

It seems like the nextbox will be a little more powerful than the WiiU. What does the 32nm stand for?

It's the size of the die that the CPU is on. The smaller the size the more efficient the CPU meaning it uses less power, produces less heat, etc. Over time one big contributor to reduced console size and cost is due to the reduction of the CPU and GPU sizes.

Currently Playing:

Troll_Whisperer said:For those of us who know nothing of these things: IF these rumours are true, how much more powerful than Wii U will the next Xbox be?

As HappySqurriel said, it's impossible so say anything definitive from what we see here. The Xbox looks like it may command a more or less noticable advantage in terms of the CPU and RAM, but they're still so close that the GPUs will be the determining factor in most comparisons I imagine. And there is nowhere near enough information about the GPUs to compare them, so it's still up in the air.